Meaford secures grant, seeks funding for bridge rebuild

Meaford Express

Meaford municipal staff had good news for members of council on December 10.
Meaford Operations Director Stephen Vokes informed council that the Municipality of Meaford has been successful in securing funds from the province to complete an Asset Management Plan for the municipality.
Meaford applied for funds for the Plan under the Municipal Infrastructure Strategy that is part of the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative (MIII). Under MIII the province provided $9 million in funding for small municipalities with populations under 20,000 to formulate long-term Asset Management Plans. The second part of the grant program was a further $51 million to help with important capital infrastructure projects identified in those Plans.
"We received good news late last week. We are in receipt of a grant for our Asset Management Plan," Vokes informed council.
With the funds for the Asset Management Plan now in place, Operations staff are applying for another $250,000 in funding to rebuild Bridge 007 located on Sideroad 30 in Sydenham Township.
"If successful in the MIII capital program, the municipality would be able to select a significant number of the bridges with recommended rehabilitation needs that could be undertaken to prolong the life-cycles of these bridges, rather than allowing them to further deteriorate to a point where a full bridge replacement is required," Vokes said in his report. "The highest priority bridge is Bridge 007, which requires the replacement of barriers and railings and replacement of the superstructure and wingwalls. This is not a full bridge replacement because the substructure of the bridge is deemed to be in good condition," he said.
The cost to rebuild Bridge 007 is approximately $500,000. Meaford is applying for $250,000 in provincial funding for the project. Vokes explained to council that the infrastructure fund would fund up to 90 per cent of the project, but he said with just $51 million in money for all of Ontario's small municipalities that Meaford would probably have a better chance of securing 50 per cent funding for the project.
"Operations staff feel that the goal of securing a smaller dollar value in coordination with an equal funding proposal may provide the municipality with a stronger proposal for grant funding in comparison to a proposal that seeks the maximum funding and percentage," said Vokes.
If the application turns out to be successful, the municipality's $250,000 share of the project would be included in the 2014 capital budget.